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Rex Ryan and Jets Encounter Unusual Distraction

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Once again on a Wednesday afternoon in this strange Jets season, Coach Rex Ryan took his customary position behind the lectern and spent time answering questions that had nothing to do with football.

For this coach, in this season, with this team, the latest sideshow hardly felt unusual, even if the subject matter was perhaps unprecedented.

Ryan wore gray sweats and the look of a man in an impossible position. On one hand, the I Have Pretty Feet episode had ballooned into a national news story. The Web site Deadspin posted videos on Tuesday of a woman who looked very much like Ryan’s wife showing off her feet.

On the other, Ryan had a game against the N.F.C. North-leading Chicago Bears to prepare for and a playoff berth to clinch. He also had to contend with a room packed with reporters asking personal questions about his wife of 23 years, their sex life, his cellphone camera skills and her feet.

The scene was bizarre, much like this Jets season.

Throughout the inquisition, Ryan gave his stock answer to 9 of the 10 foot- (not football-) related questions. The videos focusing on a woman’s feet were posted on YouTube a few years ago by someone with the user name ihaveprettyfeet.

Ryan did not confirm that he filmed or posted videos of his wife, Michelle, nor did he deny, or even address, that notion. He dismissed concerns that the latest potential distraction would affect preparations for the Bears. Mostly, he said some version of “I understand I’m going to get asked this question front ways, sideways, back ways and all ways. It is a personal matter.”

For those tallying the number of Jets distractions that drew national coverage this season, the number has reached at least nine. The first came when Ryan extended the least polite finger to a group of Dolphins fans at a mixed martial arts event in Florida last spring. The rest fall into different categories, some common in sports, some not.

WORKPLACE Two N.F.L. investigations, one for the team’s poor treatment of a female reporter from TV Azteca in the locker room early in the season; another (ongoing) for the former Jet Brett Favre, and whether he sent inappropriate text messages and lewd pictures to a former Jets employee while both worked for the team.

Photo

Jets Coach Rex Ryan, in 2009 with his wife of 23 years, Michelle, faced questions about their sex life Wednesday.Credit
Mike Derer/Associated Press

LACK OF DISCIPLINE A torrent of curse words Ryan unleashed on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” drew a rebuke from his mother. The middle finger incident. Braylon Edwards was charged with suspicion of drunken driving.

TEAM The Jets issued a strongly worded statement in regard to a clandestine coin flip that determined which New York football team would host the first regular-season game in New Meadowlands Stadium (the Giants won). The prolonged holdout of the All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis.

SPORTSMANSHIP The strength coach Sal Alosi tripped a Dolphins special-teams player on a punt return. Alosi later revealed he instructed inactive players to form a human wall on returns. He has been suspended indefinitely. The special-teams coach Mike Westhoff indicated that New England engaged in similar practices, drawing another inspection from the N.F.L.

But the strangest chapter was added on Wednesday. Ryan remained calm but swayed behind the lectern as he dodged questions from the larger-than-usual group of reporters, before the usually mild-mannered head of public relations, Bruce Speight, snapped, “I think Coach has made his preference clear.”

With that, the news conference returned to football questions. Among the actual news nuggets, Ryan revealed that Santonio Holmes has turf toe, a significant injury, like the soreness in Mark Sanchez’s throwing shoulder. It was later revealed that Sanchez has a slight cartilage tear in his shoulder, as first reported by The Daily News, and confirmed by a person with knowledge of the injury. Both Holmes and Sanchez are expected to play Sunday.

After Ryan finished, the locker room opened, and even less heralded players like safety Eric Smith found themselves surrounded, asked to weigh in on the video. Linebacker Bart Scott said he supported Ryan, then turned giddy when asked about Chicago’s offense.

“Oh, there is a game this week?” Scott said, heavy on the sarcasm. “I forgot about that.”

The Jets seem to average almost a national incident a week, yet despite all the questions about distractions, they have managed to win 10 games. Another victory — or a Jacksonville loss, or an Indianapolis loss — will secure a wild-card berth.

If anything, Scott said, the Jets seem to thrive on chaos, as evidenced by their dramatic victories against Denver, Detroit, Cleveland, Houston and Pittsburgh. Last week, Alosi’s misbehavior shifted the spotlight from a series of poor performances by Sanchez, just as this latest sideshow shifted that spotlight from Sanchez’s sore shoulder.

The feeling inside the Jets’ training center, which no one would voice publicly, is that the events of this week only further highlighted the intense loyalty to Ryan throughout the building. General Manager Mike Tannenbaum issued a statement to that effect, saying ownership remains behind its coach.

Amid the latest madness, the Jets practiced, too, on Wednesday. Come Sunday, the Bears will care about football, not feet.

A version of this article appears in print on December 23, 2010, on page B13 of the New York edition with the headline: In a Season Of Sideshows, An Odd One Hits the Jets. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe